Blaze
by Rakero-chan
Summary: When Xavier sends a team to a remote town to rescue a mutant, they end up coming back with more than they came for. For one, another mutant. How will these 'newbies' cope with living in a house full of others like them after hiding for so long?slowupdates
1. Mountain Complex

**Massive editing underway. I moved across the globe, lost the 4****th**** chapter, left this for a year, and now Abbs of the Faeries is kicking my butt into a higher gear than usual. Some of this is written by her too because of my tendency to get massive writers block in the middle of a scene. Enjoy!**

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Professor Xavier was following his usual daily routine (Wake up, teach a class or two, monitor the teachers, and use Cerebro to check on the whole world) when he spotted a problem in the Rocky Mountains of Montana.

A gathering. No, a riot, on the edge of town. Chasing a mutant.

There was clear danger in the fact that the mob, a posse really, was screaming and bearing weapons, chasing the unfortunate mutant with gusto. He sensed extremely few mutants living in the community itself, more were in the mountains surrounding the town. They probably wouldn't help for the fact that they would be treated the same. Ostracized, tortured, and killed.

He needed to send a team immediately or the mutant wouldn't survive.

Two minutes later, Kurt, Logan, and Bobby Drake were gathered in Professor Xavier's office and being filled in on the situation.

"The townspeople are exceedingly prejudiced, so you must keep your cover and give the impression of being human. That goes double for you, Kurt. If you find any other mutants in a similar situation, don't hesitate to help them. The coordinates have already been mapped in the Blackbird, so you may leave as soon as possible."

"Just one question," said Logan. "Where exactly was this guy headed on his way out of town?"

"West, I believe. There is a mountain right outside the town limits. They are now hiding, possibly hurt. That is all."

_Hours earlier, Jenson, Montana_

A young woman sneaked out of a small, wooden house in the middle of the night, carrying a few large bundles wrapped in old blankets under her arms. Quickly and silently, she made her way up a forgotten game trail out of the small community to the side of the large mountain that overshadowed the town.

It was winter and bitterly cold. The wind howled, bringing animal calls down with it. She quickened her pace. She needed to make other rounds tonight before dawn began to lighten the sky, or she stood the chance of being found out. This would not only put her life in danger, but others, for sympathizing with "abominations". 'Why can't they just accept us? Don't realize that mutants aren't a mistake? 'she thought as she approached the bottom edge of an overhanging cliff, where an outcropping of boulders sat, among which was a shivering figure, distorted by the darkness.

The figure started, surprised by her arrival, but quickly calmed as it saw who she was. Even in the shadow of the rock, the person had the muscled look of a male. However, when he walked out into the half-light of the moon, you could see that he didn't look quite human. For one thing, his hair was a silver-gray color that did not match his age, which, from appearance seemed to be around 17. Also, his eyes were a mix of yellow and green, with pupils that were more slit-like than a normal human's, more likely to be seen in an animal.

"Hey, Ria. You really shouldn't have come. They'll find out that you've been helping me, and they'll hunt you down. I can smell the fear, the suspicions, even from this far away. It's been getting stronger and stronger, and pretty soon they'll need a way to release it. It's too dangerous, and I don't want you getting hurt."

His voice was low, and slightly rough, but gentle. It was clear that he cared for the girl.

"Zev, you're my cousin. I don't abandon my family. Your mom and dad probably know what I'm doing, but they don't stop me. They know that it's my choice to do this, and they care about you too. Besides," she said with a mischievous grin, "You couldn't stop me if you wanted to."

With that, the boy launched at her, and they tumbled in the snow for a few minutes, laughing, before Zev finally pinned down her down, tickling her mercilessly until she gasped "Uncle!" This was one of the few moments where the both of them could relax completely while surrounded by a town of very anti-mutant citizens.

"Zevi," she said, still laughing slightly, "I have to go. There are others waiting for me. You're right. It's been getting more and more dangerous in town. Just last week they were going to hang Emery in the square, and they almost killed poor Elana for trying to stand up for him. They thought she had let him escape." She slapped a hand over his mouth as he opened it, about to say something. "No, I'm still going. It may be dangerous, but I'm the only one who knows where all of the others are. Even my second-in-command doesn't know everything. I've told her that if something happens to me, she has to just come to your cave and find the notebook. It's the only way to keep them safe."

"And what if you aren't safe?" Zevi asked quietly, putting his hand under Ria's chin and forcing her to look into his eyes. There was concern there, a quiet caring that made him want to be next to her always, to keep her from getting hurt in any way. She had already endured enough pain. "You're like a sister to me, Ria. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Zevi, it's a risk I have to take. 'The good of many before the good of one.' It's a sacrifice I'm glad to make, so that no one gets hurt. If something happens to me, then I will go being content that I helped as much as I could." Her eyes were serious now, something that rarely happened. "I'll be careful, Zev. I'm a big girl." She handed him a few of her bundles and left, heading further up the mountain.

As he watched her go, he muttered, "I know that, but the bigger the girl, the bigger the trouble tends to be. There's a storm coming, and I'm not sure if we'll be able to weather it this time."

Dun Dun DUN!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I enjoyed helping out with this. Basically, I know what my friend's ideas are, and I turn them into literary works of art. Not to mention I'm modest, too. See you next time, and I'm trying to work on my next fanfiction chapter!! --Abbs

**Modest? Yeah right. Slight revisions…like spelling and grammar…I can't believe she didn't catch that , but this is two years old (about).**


	2. The Hunt Begins

_7:03 am_

Having finished covering the Blackbird with sufficient brush in a well secluded place a ways away from the town, the X-men stepped back to admire their handiwork for a second. Or, at least Bobby and Kurt did. Logan sniffed the air tentatively.

"Smoke. We'll have to hurry. And remember to blend in. I don't feel like saving your asses and we sure as hell don't have enough power to take on a whole town of these idiots." He said, as he started to walk down to the community.

_3:00 am_

"Shit, shit, and shit!" the girl repeated her 'mantra' quietly as she slid, getting scratches and brush burns on her way down the steep hillside. She had wandered too close to the edge of the path and when an owl suddenly burst out of the foliage, she jumped, causing said tumble. Luckily, the hillside ways are bare of large vegetation or boulders. Unluckily, the slope was in full view of Jenson, and had numerous pebbles, some of which launched themselves toward the lower ground. The small avalanche created quite a noise as it gathered speed and mass, possibly waking people; she had stopped her descent half way down by grabbing a small bundle sage brush and holding on.

'I think that I should stop for the night,' Ria said to herself. She planned on checking on a few of the others she had hidden, but now it was out of the question. She has to get off the hill and into some cover before someone left their house to search for the cause of the disturbance.

_4:30 am_

A group made its way along a reasonably covered part of the mountain, hunting quail. The dogs moved ahead, sniffing around to catch a scent. But what they did catch, after rousting out a pheasant or two, was a large animal moving away under the cover of the brush. But it didn't move like any large game currently inhabiting the forest, nor did its prints support that it was of a game variety. They were human footprints, in shoes.

Who would be out at such a time, other than they? Each hunt was organized so that only one party was out at a time, reducing the number of hunting accidents. If there was someone outside, they could be mistaken and shot; it had happened enough times in the past. The even bigger question was why. Could the rumors of the abominations taking refuge in caves and dens far away from civilization be true?

_7:32_

Wolverine slipped into the crowd, blending well with all of the other hunters there. From what he could hear, an 'abomination' was running around in the forest and had 'attacked a party of deer hunters'. "Fat chance." He thought. "They probably scared the hell outta 'em."

He got a few looks from some of the teens who had decided that hunting a mutant would be fun and would get them some respect. He was about to teach them that is was not polite to stare when they quickly turned their attention up to an improvised platform where the hunt was being organized. The elders where calling for order, to explain the plan.

_With Bobby and Kurt (on the side of a mountain)_

They had to keep well out of site of the town, due to being in their uniforms and Kurt not wearing his image inducer (it broke –again). Not to mention the fact that they passed within hearing distance of several dogs. If they made it out of here in one day without being killed, attacked, or spotted, it would be a miracle. So would finding this mutant. It was pretty open here, but there were ravines, cliffs, caves, and steep wooded hills all over. If you had absolutely no idea where you were going and didn't keep a big landmark in sight, you were about as lost as they were.

Luckily, they had started to see a small deer path through the ground on the side more heavily occupied by vegetation. Following it, they soon saw more detailed footprints, human, leading both ways on the trail. And then they saw buildings on the horizon.

"Time to go the other vay." Kurt said quickly as they run back to a hill in panic. The citizens had gathered near the outskirts, and who knows what they could see from there. Retracing their steps, Bobby noticed a rift in the border of small pines and sage brush to one side of the path, as if someone had run off into the wilderness.

"Over here, Kurt!" He shouted as he dived through the opening. Although he almost wiped out on the path, Kurt did a 180 and sped down through the hole in the bushes.

_In Zevi's 'home'_

Ria stumbled into the cave, leaning against its walls for support. Her breathing was pained and she was sweating. Her coat was wet and torn in several places (she ran through a creek, so now her feet and pants were soaked) and spotted with blood where the bullet had grazed her abdomen and where a broken branch had almost impaled her arm when she fell. That wound felt as if it were hot and stiff. It was probably infected because of the dirt and debris inside it.

As she slowly made her way through, stopping because of waves of pain and the threat of falling, it became apparent that Zev was not home. Ria had promised that she would come back before the end of the night, which she never had because she needed to shake off the hunting party. That was easier than expected. The dogs got frightened by something overhead sometime after dawn and gave up on the chase.

Ria had no idea what time it was, not that she could care. Her body, though the mind-numbing adrenaline had worn off long ago, was still in shock. That coupled with blood loss and the threat of hypothermia set all of her attention to staying safe and warm in a singular location.

Using the last of her energy and control, she lit a pile of fire wood next to her as she collapsed to the ground unconscious as the logs crackled next to her.

_In Town_

'_Oh damn.'_ thought Logan, as he crept in the shadow of a grove of pines. This rescue was on its way to being a SNAFU. Not only was the huge hunting party going out to search, but they were splitting up into groups eight. Which made about 15 separate parties that are currently preparing to search the mountain simultaneously. Bobby and Kurt better find that kid before they were surrounded.


	3. Author Note, Please Read

Okay, bear with me. I really should have posted, but I never actually finished the fourth chapter. I got one page finished, and then I got word that I was moving to china. Lovely. Then my computer crashed. Twice. So the chapter was deleted. And I am hoping to have a revised version of the first three chapters out for my friend's birthday. Just wait a little while longer. It really have a set idea of the next chapter and it will probably get to three pages long (yes, you can faint now. Three pages). I might have it as a Bobby/OC or a Pietro/OC and I might just beg my friend to let me use her character….Depends.

I'm also revising my other story and putting it up on deviantART before working on its sequel…hell, I may even delete that sequel. It really isn't going in the right direction.

Until next week (hopefully).

Rakero-chan


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